What just one week of exposure to only natural light can do for you

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Meet chronobiologists at the University of Colorado, Boulder. They study circadian rhythms, AKA body clocks. These control biological processes, like sleep, that occur every twenty-four hours.

See, our energy levels follow light. Photoreceptors in eyes absorb light, signaling the brain. This controls production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Light suppresses melatonin. So melatonin dips during daylight, making us energetic, but increases during dark, making us sleepy.

The researchers wondered how electric lighting affects us. After all, until recently, humans lived without it.

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The Loh Down on Science is the fun way to get your daily dose of science in less than two minutes. The program explains the world of science with a dash of humor. Hosted by writer/performer and Caltech alumna Sandra Tsing Loh, it's a program for those who love science as well as for those who avoid it!